Danson, 61, in overdrive on TV character front

October 18, 2009|By Gina Piccalo, TRIBUNE NEWSPAPERS

Ted Danson strolled along Santa Monica Beach, a bit overdressed among the sneaker-and-sandal crowd in his crisp button-down and dark blazer draped over one shoulder. As he studied the horizon, an incognito Dave Chappelle caught his eye and Danson deftly sidestepped a clutch of oncoming tourists to present himself before the comedian.

"How are you?" he said, offering his hand and tilting that closely cropped snow-white head of his. "You are like a hero in my family."

Chappelle, who was dressed for a jog, looked braced for Ashton Kutcher and the "Punk'd" crew. It's not every day that "Cheers" bartender Sam Malone steps into your path with an "atta-boy."

For Danson, the encounter meant something else entirely. "Wow," he said, dryly, as they parted ways. "That was cool." He sensed an opportunity to self-deprecate. "That was my claim to hip right there," he added. "That's my only claim to hip."

Actually, Danson is hipper now than he's been in years. He's the chief scene-stealer on HBO's new Jonathan Ames-created comedy "Bored to Death," starring opposite Jason Schwartzman and Zach Galifianakis as a hedonistic magazine editor based loosely on the late George Plimpton and writer Christopher Hitchens. The show landed a second season after just three episodes. He appears as himself with wife Mary Steenburgen in two episodes of Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" this season. And next year, Danson returns for his third outing as the delightfully despicable billionaire Arthur Frobisher, Glenn Close's nemesis on FX's drama "Damages."

A few years ago, not many people would have guessed that Danson would be so positioned at this stage of his career. Sure, he's a TV stalwart , a bit of pop culture lore with his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But that sitcom persona beckons from another era and doesn't share much affinity with TV's most fashionable paradigm, the Age of Moral Ambiguity.

Yet that's why he's suddenly so popular with TV writers. There's something satisfying for them about casting one of America's sweethearts as a character choking on his own charisma, consumed by breathtaking ego and crippling self-loathing.

Larry David was gob-smacked by Danson's take on "Bored's" George Christopher. "You didn't know that guy was inside of him," he said. Ames was "just blown away" by Danson's "pathos" and "honesty" the first time he saw him in character.

"I was trained that the play was the thing, that the writing, the writer, was the thing," Danson said. "Attach yourself in any way you can to good writing. In my case it happened first with 'Body Heat' and 'Onion Field.' I'd say in life, in general, if I can't find the humor in the tragedy of life, I'd be in trouble. But at the same time, if the comedy doesn't have any nod to how sad life is, I'm not interested."

During the filming of "Bored," Danson showed up on the set every day for three months, sometimes just to sit at the monitor and applaud his co-stars.

"Ted is like this incredible mix," said "Bored" creator Ames. "He can play widely confident and then widely insecure from moment-to-moment. Like his character, he's very game and adventurous."